Anglo For Your Ear: The Jam’s “Beat Surrender”

This was No. 1 in the UK 25 years ago. This was the last No. 1 that The Jam would have before Paul Weller left the band and started The Style Council. (They had four: “Going Underground,” “Start,” “A Town Called Malice,” and this song.) Here, you can already see Weller transitioning into the straight R&B that became The Style Council’s trademark sound – blaring horns, doo-wop female back-up singers, jazzy, percussive piano, and Motown rhythms. And Paul Weller was approaching the peak of his hotness (which would be the “Long Hot Summer” video, if you weren’t aware).

Kevin Wicks

Kevin Wicks founded BBCAmerica.com's Anglophenia blog back in 2005 and has been translating British culture for an American audience ever since. While not British himself—he was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri—he once received inordinate hospitality in London for sharing the name of a dead but beloved EastEnders character. His Anglophilia stems from a high school love of Morrissey, whom he calls his "gateway drug" into British culture.